Care and support assessments for adults

Social care means personal and practical help and support to enable people in need or at risk to live independently and safely within their own homes and communities.

Swansea Council works in partnership with Swansea Bay University Health Board and many independent and third sector organisations to ensure that a range of information, advice, support and services is available for people with different levels of need.

As resources are limited, Social Services can only provide care and support services to people who have the highest level of need.

We use assessments to find out what needs someone has, what sort of support will be most helpful and whether someone is eligible for support from Social Services.

Our legal duties

From April 2016 our legal duties relating to the provision of social care are set out in the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 (opens new window).

Part 2 of the Act requires us to provide information and advice about the support available locally. Preventative services and supportive communities can help people be less isolated and more resilient to problems when they arise. By making people aware of the range of options for meeting their care and support needs early on, fewer people will need to rely on long-term care services.

Under part 3 of the Act, the local authority has a duty to offer an assessment to:

• any adult where it appears to that authority the adult may have needs for care and support;
• any carer where it appears to that authority that the carer may have needs for support.

When you contact us

When you first contact us, or someone else contacts us on your behalf, one of our trained staff will ask a number of questions to find out more about your situation and what outcome you want to achieve to improve your wellbeing. This is the first stage of the assessment process. For some people it's all they need.

Many people's social care needs can be met by services and activities that are provided in the local community. We can give you information about groups or organisations that would be able to help you or, if you prefer, we can make a referral to a support organisation on your behalf. The right information and advice at the right time often delays people's need for formal care services and can prevent the need altogether.

If it appears that you have needs for care and support beyond this we will offer you a more detailed assessment to work out what help you need and what kind of support would be most helpful for you. this assessment enables us to work out whether you have needs which are eligible for support from Social Services.

In an emergency, we can take urgent action to meet your immediate needs.